RJ Spagnols Port has arrived!!!!

[chevyguy65]

Our Chocolate Orange Port is here!!!!all other batches on hold for awhile now.(we are heading to Door County on Fridayto pick up 12 gallons of fresh pressed Cherry Juice) Lucky for us Mrs Chevys employerhas a large freezer we can use until we start a new batch.


Any words of wisdom on this kit before we get started?

 

[Jack on Rainy]

Chevy,

Our COPort just arrived too so we are looking forward to those WOW! It is our first try at port.

 

[Coaster]

Mine's in the primary. I put this one under airlock whichis different for me. I'll check for bubbles in 2 days and sg in 10-14 days.

 

[Waldo]

I bet they are going to be awesome. What are you going to fortify with guys

 

[Coaster]

I fortified my La Bodega Port with 375ml of Everclear and 375ml of Peach Brandy. It was yumm yumm good, very smooth. I fortified my Black Currant Port with 750ml of Everclear and it's STRONG and just a touch harsh (of course it was very young but so was the La Bodega). So I am leaning towards the 375/375 again. Both were in the 18% range.

 

[Wade E]

I thought that the Ports dont need fortifying. What was the ABV going to be without fortifying?

 

[Coaster]

The range before was ~16%.






I've got this in the 7.9 gal fermemtor (3 gal kit)with the top on and an airlock and the lid is bulging out and the bubbles are comming in streams. Per insturctions, it should be less than 1.000 between the 18th and the 22nd.

 

[summersolstice]

I'm starting mine this afternoon. The only thing that bothers me is that the instructions say to filter before bottling to prevent renewed fermentation in the bottle. I don't havethe means to filter and I thought that if I fermented down to .996 or below and then added sorbate and K meta before adding the f-pack I'd be ok. Of course if one were to fortify to 20% that should do it as well.


There's a similar thread here that doesn't really answer the question.



http://www.finevinewines.com/Wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3672


What's everyone's thoughts on the necessity of filtering this wine? Edited by: Rule G

 

[Wade E]

What do the instructions say as a finishing SG as Im still waiting for my Port! Filtering will not stop it from re fermenting as only sterile filtering would and most people do not have the equipment to do this so they must mean that there will be a lot of sediment in there. Does it come with a fining agent. A regular filter wiil not have a small enough filter to do this and only an Enolmatic or commercial filter will do this as the screen will have to be .25 microns to do this.

Edited by: wade

 

[summersolstice]

Wade, the instructions say the SG should be 1.115-1.125but it doesn't mention what the final gravity should be. They provided 2 packets of an unlabeled yeast and recommended allowing it to sit in the primary for 10-14 days - longer than kit directions usually recommend. Without knowing what kind of yeast is supplied, it's difficult to tell whether it will ferment dry atsuch ahigh SG. I've read in another forum that the final gravity is somewhere in the .994-.996 range.


The kit supplies bentonite and instructs you to sprinkle it on the top of the must and stir it in early in the process. It also providepackets of Kieselsol and Chitosan to be included as usual.

 

[Waldo]

Sounds like their instructions really need some fine tuning

 

[summersolstice]

I just located a number on the RJS website (1-800-663-0954) and spoke with a very helpful lady who answered all my questions regarding the RJS OCP.




















When I asked about the sterile filtering she said is was "merely a recommendation due to the high residual sugar content" and not filtering would likely pose no problem. My guess is that the recommendation is simply a CYA from their legal team.


The gravity at the end of the primary (day 14) should be below 1.00, at which time the wine is stabilized and backsweetened with the included pouch.


The final alcohol contentshould be 16% and shesaid that if I had any worries about renewed fermentation that I could always fortify. I asked about Everclear and she said that would be perfect. I then mentioned an amount of one pint and, again, she said that would be perfect and that amount would bump the alcohol content to about 18%.


As I said, she was very helpful and it was a pleasure speaking tothe person answering the phonewho's actually familiar with the product. The fact that she wasn't in India and was very easy to understand was an added plus!

 

[Wade E]

R.J Spagnols directions have you do full fermentation in the primary and I have done a few of their kits and it works out better for degassing and clearing in my opinion. And I dont think they know too much about winemaking in India unlike trying to get a hold of your wireless computer router for help!

 

[PeterZ]

I have reviewed a lot of RJS kit instructions online, and have found them to be very generic. They don't vary much if at all from kit to kit. I find it very poor practice to put in the instructions, "If you have an F-pack, add it now." They know if a kit has an F-pack or not - can't they write two versions of the instructions? I'd rather have a laser printed set of instructions specific to my kit, rather than a generic set that a generic instruction that tells me when to add oak (if there is oak), raisins (if there are raisins), etc.

All three of the bigs do this, and I think this is an area where they could really improve.

Edited by: PeterZ

 

[Dean]

The lady you were speaking to was probably Lisa Jones! She's great and really knows her stuff! I acutally really like the RJS 14 day primary routine! That's actually much closer to working with grapes, and it does make degassing much less of a hassle. I did this kit last year and it does give a range for the final SG, or at least my instruction card does. If you don't do a lot of RJS kits, the instructions do tend to make people go hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... when they see there is no secondary step. As far as true final gravity goes, I think the port ends up around 1.035 after you add the F-pack. I've done a few of their dessert wine kits, (icewine, vidal icewine, port, and OC port) and have never had a re-fermentation. If anything, I'd always be worried about mist kits refermenting as they are low alcohol with LOTS of residual sugars.

 

[Wade E]

I have 2 Ice wine Kits together in 1 carboy, the all juice kits and I had no re-ferm and those are a lot higher SG than the Port as those finish with an SG of 1.060.

 

[Waldo]

I agree with you Peter.......make the instructions specific for the kit you have purchased.

 

[Wade E]

I 3rd that!

 

[Coaster]

I did this kit last year and it does give a range for the final SG, or at least my instruction card does.

My instruction set did not give a range but it did say (I am in CA this week so I'm doing this from memory) After 10-14 days the SG should be below 1.000. For me, 14 days is the 22nd so I'll have to do it the 23rd or 24th when I get back.


I have to admit I had to read the instructions a few time thru because I am use to the WE instructions. Some of their comments (like Option: a second racking can be done in a week) left me going hmmmmmm - did they mean a second racking a week after the first one or after I finish this step. But I think I'll be able to make it through. This is my first time like this so I am interested in seeing if I can tell the difference in degassing. I've never had a problem with that or clearing (at least not that Super Kleer couldn't help with).

 

[chevyguy65]

We just racked our CO Port to glass on the 22nd and everything seems to be going well.Sg was @ .996 at the time we racked.We too were a little confused,at first, with the instructions. So we figured K.I.S.S.(keep it simple stupid)* and followed the directions as written.In the end it smelled great ,degassed well and is clearing very nicely.Will probably rack it next week and the let it sit a couple months before bottling.


Sometimes we try to make this harder than it really is. If you look at alot of fruit wine recipes they are rather generic at best and our wines still turn out very nice!!

.


* The K.I.S.S. reference was in no way intended to offend anyone on this forumn.